Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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At the outset, I congratulate the Minister of State on the Dáil dojo he hosted yesterday in the AV room. I know Bill Liao and James Whelton myself and the work they are doing with this, that is, teaching computer coding skills to children is fantastic fun. I again congratulate the Minister of State and note this was the second dojo to take place in Leinster House thanks to his initiative.

The issue I wish to raise today is one I first brought to the attention of Dublin City Council when I was elected to it in 2009. Following my election to the Dáil, it formed the content of the first legislative item I published, namely, the Smarter Transport Bill 2011. It was a simple, technical Bill but its enactment would pave the way for two great ideas in Dublin city's transport infrastructure. The first concerns electric cars and electric car charging points. At present, the installation of electric charging points is being rolled out around the city. However, as matters stand, the spaces are not reserved solely for electric vehicles and other cars can park at the charging points. This makes absolutely no sense because it involves blocking the infrastructure for those who wish to use it. If one wishes to have people using this infrastructure and starting to drive electric cars, if one wishes to incentivise them with the provision of parking spaces with electric charging points, then these strands must be brought together. It is common sense and unless there is common sense in the infrastructure, people will not use it.

The second aspect of the Bill pertains to car-sharing car clubs. Essentially, this could be understood as being akin to the dublinbikes scheme but with cars. One would book a car online, go around to the nearest car, use one's personal swipe card to get into the car and then drive off for the designated amount of time for which one wish to use it. One would pay a standard annual charge of perhaps €50 and then an additional charge of €3 to €5 per each hour one uses the car. It takes away all the hassle of actually owning a car, including the cost of maintenance, the NCT and insurance, as well as all these additional things that make it so expensive. It is a fantastic idea for people living in high-density areas such as Dublin city. It also is a great idea for families who may need a second car only on occasion but who cannot afford to have one. The introduction of what one might call a dublincars scheme would mean fewer cars and less congestion on the streets, more parking bays and cheaper transport for those who needed to use it. In addition, it would be better for the environment.

In order to get such a scheme to work, one must be able to provide such cars in clusters of parking spaces on public streets, like one sees with the dublinbikes scheme and to do this, the laws must be changed. When I first raised the idea in 2009 at Dublin City Council, I was informed that primary legislation was required. Thereafter, once elected to this House and when drafting the legislation in 2011 to introduce it myself, I was still told that primary legislation was needed. Moreover, such legislation was meant to be transposed into the road traffic legislation being introduced by the Minister in 2013. However, in the course of that process, I was then informed that primary legislation was not needed and that one could move forward with regulations only. While I appreciate the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, is unable to be present today, my question to the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, on his behalf is what brought about this sudden change in legal thinking? Why was there a four-year wait before people suddenly realised one could proceed with regulation and the time-consuming process of enacting legislation was not necessary? Second, how soon can such regulations be made? This would be an important transport innovation for Dublin city. People have been waiting for long enough and given its title and function, one would think the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport would be more concerned with getting this through as it is such a simple matter

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Eoghan Murphy for attending the Dáil dojo yesterday. He has been a strong and articulate advocate of the CoderDojo movement, which we both agree is one of the most exciting movements to emerge from within the community sector in Ireland for many years.

I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, who is unable to attend the Chamber today. He would like to thank the Deputy for raising the issue. Deputy Murphy's Smarter Travel Bill 2012, which he introduced as a Private Members' Bill, proposed to provide in law for the reservation of parking spaces for recharging electric vehicles and for the reservation of spaces on-street for car clubs. The Minister, Deputy Varadkar, discussed this Bill with Deputy Murphy at the time and indicated he supported the proposals. He therefore asked his officials to ensure the measures proposed were included in the new road traffic Bill which was then being prepared in his Department.

During preparation of the Road Traffic (No. 2) Bill, which the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, published last week, legal advice was received that the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, already had the power to provide in secondary legislation for the matters covered by the Smarter Travel Bill. The Minister is happy to re-emphasise that he strongly supports measures to promote sustainable travel and that, in this context, he is keen to facilitate both growth in the use of electric cars and the development of car clubs. Both electric vehicles and car clubs represent important environmental and sustainable travel initiatives. Both will help to reduce emissions, and they all constitute creative solutions to the ongoing problems of environmental pollution in our cities. Work is, therefore, now under way in the Minister's Department on preparing the necessary regulations, and he intends to bring in these regulations as soon as possible.

The Government has set a target of ensuring that 10% of the nation's passenger car and light commercial vehicle fleet will be electrically powered by 2020. Action 47 of Maximising Ireland's Energy Efficiency: The National Energy Efficiency Action Planprovides for that. The aim is to reduce average vehicle energy consumption, and hence CO₂emissions, air pollutants and noise.

The Minister's Department has also made a commitment, under the Sustainable Travel and Transport Action Plan, STTAP, to support private and public sector initiatives to operate car clubs. These are organisations which own a pool of cars and members can book their use for a specified period. The intention to legislate to enable on-road parking spaces to be designated for car clubs through appropriate signage was made clear in action 19, supported by action 37, of the plan.

The regulations now in preparation will address these matters by providing for designation of spaces for electric vehicle recharging, car clubs, and specific signage for these spaces.

While road traffic legislation falls within the area of responsibility of the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, there will also be a need to look at other issues to ensure that recharging points for electric vehicles and spaces for car clubs can be provided on a sound legal basis. It will be necessary, for example, for local authorities to ensure that they have the appropriate powers to enter into arrangements with electricity providers and car clubs. Local authorities will also need to consider the revenue implications of changing the use of these spaces, and to agree on costs with electricity providers and car clubs. These are matters which are under the remit of the Minister's colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government.

The Minister, Deputy Varadkar, wishes to thank the Deputy again for raising the matter and assure him that the required regulations will be in place as quickly as possible.

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State. I am aware of the support of the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, because we have spoken about this on a number of occasions. In fact, in anticipation of either primary or secondary legislation coming before the House this year, in November last year I called on Dublin City Council to initiate the public consultation for the new by-laws that will be needed. Dublin City Council, therefore, is already working to make sure it is ready to go when the secondary legislation has been published. I hope the Department of Transport is talking to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government on the important issues the Minister of State pointed out, and that they are both talking to Dublin City Council. It should not take us to raise them here by way of the Topical Issue Debate to spur on greater efforts. It is a very simple proposal but one that could deliver a big win for the people of Dublin. I look forward to the secondary legislation coming in as soon as possible.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I agree wholeheartedly with the Deputy and congratulate him on his initiative in promoting these new travel and transport opportunities for those living within the greater Dublin area. They are innovative and will provide for new and interesting opportunities for transport within the city.

The commitment given by the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, judging from the response I read out for the Deputy, is a serious one. It is one he intends to follow through on and I expect that there is ongoing and significant consultation between the Minister, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and Dublin City Council and that those consultations will result in securing the change the Deputy strongly supports as quickly as possible.